On March 18, 2013, my world was turned upside down. This was the day I learned that my best friend had died of suicide. The violence of her death was so hard to imagine. She lived alone, and the gun she had for protection was used to end her life.
She left behind a loving mother, devoted father, loyal sister, a niece, a nephew and, most painful of all in my eyes, me. I will never forget the way she imprinted upon my life, and I take her everywhere I go. I take her optimism, her generosity, her compassion, and her unconditional love, and I pour these things into others in loving memory of Shi Shi. I do this because I know that’s what she would do if she were with us today.
And though I have emerged on the other side of grief, a survivor, not a day goes by that I don’t wonder what her/our life would be like if she were still here.